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tv   Washington Journal Eugene Mulero  CSPAN  May 28, 2021 11:15am-11:48am EDT

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thank you. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government, funded by these television companies and mark -- and more. ♪ >> buckeye broadband supports c-span as a public service along with these other providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> president biden travels to hampton virginia this afternoon for a speech about the progress in battling the pandemic. it comes out 1:20 eastern -- at 1:20 eastern and you can see it here on c-span. >> continuing negotiations on
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infrastructure. let's begin on the front. we know that tox will continue post-memorial day. but how far beyond that will they continue? guest: it is likely that these negotiations between the white house and senate republicans will continue for about a week or two more weeks of top level negotiations. over the weekend and next week after memorial day, the biden senior transportation team and the jobs cabinet team are going to continue to meet with senator at the capital and -- senator capito and other top gop leaders. the white house has a $1.7 trillion proposal that is climate change centric and
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senate gop, what they are proposing is something that is very surface transportation centric. it is likely over the course of a week or two week, if those talks do not produce a compromise pressure from the democratic leadership on capitol hill will lean towards the president to go on a infrastructure package that does not include a lot of input that senate republicans are proposing. host: do both sides want a bipartisan deal? guest: they say they do. president biden says that he wants to work with republicans. in unity on issues of infrastructure. the senate republicans they not only set it but put it in
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writing in a memo to the white house that that want to work with the white house and oppose a enactment of a infrastructure legislation that would be partisan in nature. what they are proposing is a scenario in which white house works with only the democrats to advance a big picture bill through a budget process that would not necessitate senate republican input. to be fair both sides the white house, senate democrats and republicans, both parties are in agreement on how we need to modernize and improve the infrastructure. the contention is how to pay for it. that is where they do not see i to i. host: one of photographs is the
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scene outside of the u.s. capitol, one of the many construction projects in d.c., right outside of our window. i want to go back to your issue of how to pay for this. could that be a dealbreaker for republicans? the president says he wants to raise taxes, go back to the tax rates that were in place before the trump tax cuts for corporations. guest: exactly. sources i talk to, people on capitol hill, they tell me the republicans' position of not raising corporate taxes, they are not moving from that position. that is exactly why president biden is calling for raising the corporate tax rate, in order to come up with the money, over 10 to 15 years, to pay for his infrastructure plan. senate republicans, in their negotiations, presented a plan that would use for
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infrastructure, would rely on unused covid-19 relief money. the white house says that is not a plan they will go for. it is worth noting, many take holders and the transportation community, what they have been proposing for years is for congress to propose and approve raising the federal fuel tax, but that is something the white house, democrats and republicans on capitol hill are unwilling to tackle at this point. host: that was one of the issues brought up yesterday by one of the key republicans in these negotiations. she has met with the president on a couple of occasions, west virginia senator capito. [video clip] >> we are looking at a not have -- a $928 billion package, sticks to the core issues we talked about initially. it's a serious effort to reach a
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bipartisan agreement. the president said to me and us in february that he was really agnostic as to whether we passed a bunch of small bills, or one large bill, and we have heard him say inaction is not an option for him. we have passed two of the smaller, and surface transportation has not gone out of the senate yet, but it is a major anchor to this piece of legislation. i think that shows there is a real hunger for bipartisanship in the u.s. senate, a real ability to achieve that, and we are hoping that this moves the ball forward. we believe the alternative, which is a partisan reconciliation process, would be destructive to our future bipartisan attempts but also does not serve the american public, and would not get us to an infrastructure package such as the one we believe would serve the american interest but also constrains spending to the areas of core, physical infrastructure that is so
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important to this country. host: that is from republican shelley moore capito. i want to share a couple of tweets. i didn't vote for bipartisanship, i voted for d's, and we won. get over it. another one says, democrats cannot steamroll anyone. they should start realizing it. dems have a razor thin majority in both houses and minorities in state legislatures. give us an update, where do things stand right now? guest: right now, the staffers for republicans and white house staff for biden are working on trying to come to a consensus on the funding level, as well as how to pay for an infrastructure package. to come to an agreement on this whole debate that is beside the funding debate, the debate over what is infrastructure?
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there's a lot of pushback from republicans on the hill, they are just questioning the white house's infrastructure plan when they propose funding for what deem human infrastructure. republicans deem human infrastructure. it is worth noting in this plan, the things that republicans are referring to, refers to funding for elderly care facilities, hospitals, v.a. hospitals, childcare programs, money for new technologies, electric vehicle technologies. proposals from the white house that are outside of the traditional physical infrastructure parameters that the country has been accustomed to. back to your point that negotiations are ongoing, but like i said, i am hearing it will be one or two more weeks of these high-level negotiations. but there is a sense of urgency
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on capitol hill. speaker pelosi says she wants to have either a scaled down or a big infrastructure package passed out of the chamber by july 4. we have heard similar sentiments from senator schumer in the senate, that he wants to move ahead with an infrastructure package. many prominent members of the democratic caucus in the house and senate are kind of getting tired of the negotiations. they feel like the republicans are dragging their feet, questioning how we are going to pay for it, etc. there is a big impetus to get something done. what i am hearing, there is a sense of urgency to get something done by july 4, definitely before the august recess. host: we are talking to eugene
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mulero, transportation reporter for transport topics. he covers capitol hill. initially, republicans came up with a plan that was $600 billion, the president was at $2.2 trillion. now the republicans are at $928 billion. the white house, at one point, -- at $1.7 trillion. can they come closer or will republicans hold firm to their plan? guest: what i am hearing is that a final number could probably be a $1.3 trillion package, $1.5 trillion package, and that is if there is some wiggle room on the part of the white house on the corporate tax rate proposal. perhaps they don't go all the way to 28%, 25%, or something like that. that is something the white house says they are willing to negotiate. also, if the white house is able to compromise or maybe scaled down what the republicans call
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this human infrastructure component of their package, that will facilitate movement on the negotiations. again, for emphasis, republicans do want to get an infrastructure package done. this is why they move the ball on their side to a $1 trillion deal. if they can reach agreement on how to pay for it, if they address the fuel tax within the highway trust fund that pays for our surface transportation programs nationwide, some sort of agreement on climate change policies and electric vehicle policies, it is very likely that there will be a big ticket infrastructure package out of capitol hill. but that is a lot of maybes. host: our guest is eugene mulero, previously worked for
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the huffington post, cq wire. -- green wire, cq roll call. joining us on the phone is our guest from arizona. good morning, you are next. caller: ok, sorry. host: i will ask you to turn the volume down, otherwise we will hear an echo. caller: good morning. i'm calling from arizona. i never choose republican or democrat. i love to choose as a u.s. citizen. presently, i am not a u.s. citizen. host: do you have a question? we are going to have to move on to ron in munro township, new jersey. if you get through, please turn the volume down so we can hear you.
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caller: why isn't anyone talking about fusion? fusion would allow us to recycle all of our raw elements. it would allow us to the cell -- d salad nice-- desalinize all of the water we need and make all the electricity we need. there is a working reactor in new york, japan, and they are try to get one going, i believe, in france and sweden. host: we will get a response. guest: the white house and the biden administration are looking at many proposals, policy provisions that would enhance alternative sources of energy. this will be to address concerns with the electrical grid, especially like in texas, southern parts of the country. there is also a directive to
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invest in new, autonomous technologies, solar energy, like i mentioned, electric vehicles. i know the biden administration has a very broad portfolio. we can expect to see more of their directives in the fiscal 2022 budget request out today, as well as as talks continue on the infrastructure package. host: linda in dallas. good morning, you are next. caller: good morning. my question for your guest -- i am in my 70's. i am for the senate working together to pass this bill for i just want them to come to some kind of agreement because, as a senior citizen, i am worried
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about them, the infrastructure, everything. i want to see them come into the 21st century. i don't want them to be a laughingstock to china nor russia. come to an agreement to help this young generation of americans. thank you. host: thank you. we will get a response. guest: she makes a good point, and an area of compromise already evident on capitol hill is this highway policy legislation, separate from the infrastructure package we are talking about. this highway policy bill received unanimous support out of a senate committee this week. on june 9, the house transportation committee will take up their version of this highway policy bill. the sponsors of the legislation do get to the point of transforming, modernizing the
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country's mobility grid. as the caller mentioned, there are concerns about the state of our roadways, highways. 37 million people traveling this memorial day weekend will experience first-hand our country's infrastructure. so there is already bipartisan support for upgrading, modernizing our passenger core doors and only to facilitate the movement of not only people, but also freight. host: those traveling noticing higher gas prices, here in the d.c. area, just over three dollars a gallon. the headline from cnbc and in many parts of the country, even much higher, especially in new york or california, where it is four dollars or five dollars a gallon, depending on where you live. cnbc reporting that these prices could stay for the summer as
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34 45 -- 34.5 million americans are hitting the roads. why would gas prices stay this high? guest: fuel analysts indicate they are expecting a high demand in the summer travel season, so with a lot of people hitting the roads, the demand will stay there. the national average is expected to stay around three dollars per gallon. people that i talk to, fuel analysts are saying, you and i and the rest of the country, if they have been vaccinated, if they have safety precautions, they go to places where the mask mandates have been relaxed, that they want to get out there. when they travel, they will need to fill their cars up with gasoline. back to the question, it's
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expected to stay at three dollars a gallon due to the demand projected for the summer. host: for the radio audience, we are talking to eugene mulero, a congressional reporter for transport topics. the headline for bloomberg news pointing out the negotiations between the president, senate democrats, and republicans will continue into next week. the headline at bloomberg.com is the gop next week, the clock ticks on infrastructure. you mentioned the fact that this is from chad, congressional correspondent and producer for fox news, a former c-span producer, a couple of notes about president biden releasing his budget today. budget proposals are aspirational press releases on steroids. they are phantoms. never does congress enact a president's budget, nor are they binding. next is mack from damascus, maryland. caller: no one is talking about how the government is actively shutting down pipelines.
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they are like gas prices are going up. i wonder why? everyone is being tricked into committing suicide. like now, everyone should be -- -- should be milking the system for everything that it's worth. get the infrastructure bill in because in three years, we will not have the ability to loan ourselves money anymore because inflation will be through the roof. get your gas, electric cars. i suggest everyone starting a business that makes real money. get some chicken eggs. host: thanks for listening on c-span radio. just avoiding some profanity. eugene mulero. guest: my reporting suggests there is -- supply chain is operational.
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there is no reporting to suggest that there is an inability for people to access energy products, gasoline, etc. our freight and transportation corridors have been inspected and are safe. that is another point i want to make. there is so much talk back and forth between capitol hill and the white house about repairing infrastructure, people should know that when they travel, go to the airports, drive over a bridge, that infrastructure has been inspected and is safe. the whole argument that is anchoring these negotiations is how does the federal government help modernize and rebuild infrastructure that is capable to withstand the impact of severe weather events? i'm not just talking about hurricanes, also floods, wildfires.
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there is bipartisan agreement on a need to reinforce infrastructure, and the supply chain in order to withstand the impact of cybersecurity concerns as well as severe weather events. host: laurie is next on the republican line. good morning. caller: i am visiting a friend here. i live in katy, texas. i just want to bring to the attention of the usa, we have a terrible problem -- infrastructure. our legislature is in session right now. they are shortly going to be leaving. they had been warned 11 years ago that those lines need to be taken care of, maintained, in the event of bad weather. host: i am going to stop you
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there because you are breaking in and out. i think we got the essence of your question, referring to the electric lines and electric grid. did you want to respond to that? guest: again, the transportation committees, as well as the white house, has been very focused on investing money to expand the capabilities of the country's electrical grid, as well as the energy supply chains. within the biden infrastructure proposal $1.7 trillion, several , billion dollars would be dedicated just to address the modernization of electrical grids. not every part of the country operates their electrical grid the same, but nevertheless, the white house has indicated they are willing to partner with every state agency in order to invest in these improvement projects.
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host: back to your calls. jesse in muskegon, michigan. good morning. caller: good morning, steve. i have not called c-span in almost three years. host: why? don't be a stranger. caller: so many people get on c-span and are ridiculous. i am very well informed. talking about this infrastructure bill that the president is trying to pass. the republicans have no interest in passing anything. all they want to do is give tax breaks for billionaires. if you go to europe, they have some of the most beautiful highways, no potholes. here we are, the richest country in the world, and we have potholes.
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walking down this bridge that goes over mississippi over to tennessee to i believe arkansas, a big crack was in there, trucks were having to make a detour. this is absolutely ridiculous. the democrats need to wake up , because the republicans have no interest in doing nothing but giving money to billionaires. it makes you angry how they play this game. they have no interest in doing nothing for the country. we have the greatest country in the world. growing up in a country like this, all we have is politics by people who are concerned about the wealthy. the democrats need to get over this thing of bipartisan stuff. these people do not want to pass
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anything. host: i am going to jump in, but thank you for phoning in. promise us you will not wait another three years to phone in. caller: i've been watching c-span. thank you, steve, for letting me voice my opinion. have a good day. host: thank you for the call. to his point, let me share a tweet from a viewer, the last time major infrastructure was a topic was in the 1950's with the interstate highway system. it says a lot about our nation -- about where we are as a nation when the railways, roads, and bridges need major overhauls. this is upper tier infrastructure. and then we have the electric grid, internet, etc. under the republican plan, here is the price tag with some of the proposals. about $506 billion for roads and bridges and major infrastructure projects. $98 billion for public transit. $56 billion for airports. $46 billion for passenger and
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freight rail systems. and about $22 billion for ports and waterways. the transportation secretary is the former mayor of south bend, indiana, pete buttigieg. my question to you is what role is he playing in these negotiations? guest: secretary buttigieg has been very out there in the media promoting this infrastructure package. he has done basically every interview under the sun in american media in order to remind people of the administration's objective of modernizing the transportation network, improving the freight supply chains. as a member of what president biden called his jobs cabinet, buttigieg is out there meeting with members of congress, in order to get something done on infrastructure.
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he has been very much one of the key public figures of this debate. it is worth noting that on capitol hill to the point of the previous caller, the negotiations are expected to take one or two more weeks. the democratic leadership, like i mentioned, do want to get something done on infrastructure that is transformative. that goes away from the eisenhower era mobility networks and takes us to a new future, modern transportation system. there is an expectation we will see passage of legislation out of the house by july 4. the senate is expected to start legislating on state policy, climate change policy, transit policy will stop this is all expected to happen before the august recess. we can have a highway build, and
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separate from that and infrastructure package. if not before the august recess, definitely in the early part of fall. david is in washington, d.c., making the point, many people are forgetting this isn't just an infrastructure bill, it is an american jobs plan. yes, it has an infrastructure focus but that does not mean we should not pass the other stuff in it that will help the economy -- fuel the economy. nasal will get the last call. republican line, good morning. -- basil will get the last call, republican line, good morning. caller: donald trump was successful because he understood construction. he understood how to solve the problems. we have politicians who never did a lick of work. if you put a group of politicians and white collar people in an area to build and a group of tradespeople to build, which one do you think will build the city? we need people who understand construction and how to do it at how to get it done.
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not talk about it and pass infrastructure bills. how in the heck are you going to get it done? donald trump was a builder. we have no builders in office today. we have only people who come up with ideas and concepts but not how to do it. we have to wake up. it is tradespeople who built this country. host: i will leave it there. 30 seconds left. to his point and a quick follow-up on what you are looking to next. guest: the road builders and the construction stakeholders have applauded negotiations and ongoing talks on capitol hill and have expressed optimism with the passage of a highway bill out of a senate committee. what i am looking for is after memorial day, how the talks at the white house with senate republicans, how they are able to produce, reconciling their
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differences. i will be watching the mark of a highway bill at the transportations committee. the passage of that legislator -- legislature will set the tone for what democrats do going forward, not only on highway legislation but this big infrastructure package. host: eugene mulero is a senior congressional reporter for transport topics. we will follow your reporting in the days >> president biden travels to hampton, virginia for a speech about the country's progress in combating the covid-19 pandemic at 1:20 p.m. eastern. you can see it here live on c-span. >> book tv on c-span two has top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. sunday at 10:00 p.m. eastern the
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